Misinformation will undermine coronavirus responses

Significance

The WHO has been forced to divert significant attention and resources to battling swathes of misinformation, which are hampering the efforts of the organisation and governments to check the spread of COVID-19. In early February the WHO called this an 'infodemic'.

Impacts

• Crowdsourcing the response to misinformation, as Wikipedia has been doing, might be effective.
• Mistakes by authorities in handling the outbreak will feed conspiracy theories.
• Misinformative content could decrease public trust in governments and reputable organisations, such as the WHO.